Electric gun.



PATENTBD FEB, s, 1906.

awuemtoz dwaai' m UNITED [STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL T. FOSTER, m. or VICTORIA, MEXICO, ASSIGNOR OFTHREEP roonrns TO 03111) c. BILLMAN, OF-LODI, OHIO.

ELECTRIC GUN.

To all uihom it may concern:

and a more powerful gun than any heretoforeinvented and to provide against smoke and noise which are a nuisance in the guns that are in present'use inthe worlds armies and names.

With these ends in view the invention consists in the novel construction hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a diagrammatical longitudinal sectional View of my improved gun. Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of one of the connector-plugs 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the circuit-breaker plug 10 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the in]. roved gun.

imilar numerals of reference indicate like parts throughout all the figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 11 12 is the barrel of the gun and is open at bothends.

11 is the entrance, and 12 is the exit.

13 designates coils of insulated electric wire wound around the gun-barrel to form a helix or several electromagnetic coils.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8, and 9 are electric connector-plugs, and each is connected to one end of one of the coils wound around the barrel and is normally insulated from the barrel, but in operation' is electrically connected with the barrel through the projectile.

10 designates the circuit-breaker plug per lnanently connected to the battery 14, normally connected to the barrel of the gun, completing thec'onnection between the battery and the barrel and in operation is pressed down by the projectile and opens the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 10,1902. Serial Np. 134,725.

' Patented Feb. 6, 1906.

connection between the battery and the barrel.

14 designates .an electric battery or a dynamo or some other suitable and convenient source of electric power, one side of which is normally in connection with the barrel through 43.and 10 and the other side ermanently in connection with one en of each of the coils 15, 16, 17, 18,19, 20, 21, 22,

and 23.

15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 designate coils, each of a number of turns of insulated electric wire wound around the barrel, having one end of each connected permanently to a connector-plug 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9, respectively, and the other end of each connected permanently through 42 to the batis shown most clearly in Fig; 2, 24 and 25 designate sections of the insulating-wall, and.

26 is a cam-connector inade to slide between walls 24 and 25 and arranged tomake electrical connection with the projectile and to be pressed down by the projectile to allow the projectile to pass and to make good connection between cam and projectile while'the latter is passing over the cam. 27 designates a spring for keeping the cam-connector .26 pressed up against the collar of the insulating-lining 24 25, normally, and to allow camconnector 26 to be pressed down by the projectile passing over the same. 28 desig-- nates an electric wire having connection through 27 to 26 and is connected directly to one end of the respective coils of that connector-plug.-

As shown most clearly in Fig. 3, 30 and 31 designate sections of metal wall. 33 designates an insulating lining and base. 32 designates a cam operated by the projectile passing over it and pressing it down out of its normal position, which latter is just above the inside surface of the barrel. 37 designates the" circuit-breaker normally in connection with the barrel and in operation is ressed 34 designates a s ring erable.

34 and connected to the source of power 14 by means of the electric wire 43;

The operation of my invention is as follows: All pro ectiles used in this gun must have magnetic properties, and projectiles of iron or containlng large portions of iron are pref- That projectile having the. greatest magnetic permeability is most suitable for this gun. The projectile to be shot by the gun is put in the barrel at 11-the entrance end of the barrel-and shoved forward until the forward. end of the projectile comes in contact with the nearest or rear connectorplug 1. Helix 15 is then ener ized, having its circuit completed through t heprojectile, thronigh the barrel, through 43 14 42 44 15 1, an again to the projectile, exerting an electromagnetic action on the projectile and pullin" the projectile forward-into the magnetic fie d of 15 until the projectile reaches the center of 15, and "just before that position is reached the forward end of the projectile makes contact with 2 and the rear end of the projectile leaves 1, and then another electro-' magnetic pull is exerted on the projectile forward by 16 being energized, and 15. is deenergizedat about the same instant, and thus step by step the projectile is carried forward through the barrel, those electromagnetic coils behind it being cut out of circuit as the projectile reaches their centers and those electromagnctic coils just ahead being cut in circuit until the projectile reaches the center of 'the last helix, when the-projectile de resses the circuit-breaker plug 10 and opens t e battery-circuit, and then the rojectile is free from all further action by tlie un and must spend force that it has receive while in the barrel in overcoming resistance encountered outside of the gun. The first ull gives the projectile a certain velocity, and this velocity is increased by the second pull, and this second new velocit is increased by the third pull, and so on t 1rou h the several coils the,

velocity is increased until the rojectile reaches the center of the last coilt at is, the

. most forward coil-when the gunceases to exert a force on the rojectile by the batterycircuit being opener through 10, and the pro j ectile then eaves the mouth of the gun with 1ts accumulated force and continues to travel until that force is equalled by resistance encountered along its path of travel. The velocit attained by a projectile of a given weig t and size and of a given magnetic permeability is directly 1proportional to the number of turns per 001 to the numberv of coils, and .to the amount of current sent throu h the coils and is indirectly proportional to t e while in the resistance to be overcome by thev projectile un-barrel. By increasing the length of the her of coils, there is no limit to the velocity 'gaged b arrel, so as to increasethe numwhich can be given a projectile except the limit of practicability in keeping the pro ectile from heating so much as to damage the bore of the gun by the friction encountered therein.

The rojectiles may be longer than any section 0 the barrel occupied b asin 1e coi but when such is the case then t e sai projectiles should not present an electric conductingsurface to the barrel nor to any of-the plugs,

except a s ace almost the length of the space along the arrel occupied by a coil, and this space on the projectile that resents an electric conducting-surface shou d have its center on or near a line drawn through the center of the projectile perpendicular tothe len 'th of the proj ectile-that is, to another line rawn' through the end centers of the projectile.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the primciples or sacrificing any of the advantages of this l I1V6Ilt1O!1.

Having explained the natureof the invention and described a way of constructing and using the same, althou h without having at tempted to set forth alf the forms in which it may be made or all the modes of its use, Ideclare that what I claim is 1. In an electroma netic gun, the combination with a suitable arrel, a series of openings arranged along said barrel, and insulated walls formed within said-openings of a series niounted in sa1d openings and normally insula ed from said barrel and of connector-plugs adapted to contact with a pro'ectile having ma netic properties, a spring a apted to norma y hold saidconnector-plugs 1n contact with said insulated walls, an insulated electric wire Wound about said barrel to form a series of helices connected to said connectorplu s, and an electric generator connected to said connector plugs and said barrel through said helices.

2. An electromagnetic gun for shooting magnetic projectiles, comprising a suitable barrel, a series of surroundin 0011s or helices, a series of openin s arranger? along said bar-,- rel, insulated wal s formed about said openings, a series of connector-plugs mounted 1n sa1d opcnin 's and normally adapted to be ent e mounter in sai openings and adapted to normally hold said connector-plugs in contact with said insulated walls and an electric enerator connected to said helices and barre In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribin witnesses. I

I S EL T. FOSTER, JR.

V. C. ULMER, O. F. HALEYI rojectile, a series of springs 

